If you hear there's something gross around, chances are you'll wanna see it. If it stinks, oozes or pulsates, half the neighborhood might come running. But why? What makes "gross" almost irresistible to mankind? And how do we define exactly what "gross" is?

"It's hard to define gross," says William I. Miller, who wrote "The Anatomy of Disgust," "because it will often vary from one culture to the next. But what is constant is that each culture will find something disgusting. It's one of the primary features of any civilization."

Sylvia Branzei, author of the cool "Grossology" books, says: "Anything that makes your nose turn up and your stomach clinch is gross. It's a physical response." But she agrees what triggers that response can depend on who you are and where you live.

For example, most U.S. citizens would gag at the thought of eating insects. But cultures in Africa, Australia and South America enthusiastically gobble bugs. Still, children's author Eric Elman says, some bugs are universally disgusting. "The one thing that comes close is the cockroach. No one seems to eat cockroaches."

Human waste is another candidate for internationally gross. "Most people agree human `poo' is off limits," Branzei says. But Miller says: "There are cultures that require the consumption of human waste as a right of passage, a ceremony. But it's a moment of high danger. It's meant to be `over the edge' behavior."

Does grossness serve a purpose in cultures around the world? Of course, Miller says. "For one thing, it divides us from the animals, the same way laughter does. It also seems to help us differentiate one person from another, one culture from the next."

Miller also believes disgust sets up societal rules. "It says, `Thou shalt not touch this; don't get near it.' It tells us something is dangerous."

Of course, calling something gross or "off limits" frequently backfires. "Any time you tell somebody not to do something, it becomes desirable in a way," Miller says. "Just look at Adam and Eve. Nothing was off limits except for that little fruit. So they had to have it."

Calling it forbidden is part of why gross fascinates us, Miller says. "Imagine if you took a glass and spit in it for 10 minutes. Swallowing spit is not disgusting when it remains in your mouth. But if you were to drink that glass of your own saliva, it would be transformed into something forbidden. Once it goes out of you, it becomes something gross and, therefore, magical."​----------Not to be rude and crude, but we want to probe the whole disgusting-grody-obnoxious thing further. Yeah, yeah, we have a Clinton story inside - but there's more. Here's what's up, Chuck: For those kids who want to be yucky for yuks, we offer some giggle-producing gag gifts on the Stuff page. On the other hand, for a look at really good reasons to occasionally bag gaggy behavior, turn to Tough News It for our story on why manners matter. For a peek at TV's rudest dudes, flip to Features. It Also, if you've ever bought a shoddy product, get a grip - and let our Great Gripes story tell you how to complain effectively without resorting to rude retorts and disgusting whining.And don't miss our Backtalk page: It shows off the winning entries in our backpack contest. Man, you wanna talk about rude and disgusting...Does school get grosser by the day? Then think what it's gonna be like in a few months! But you can keep track of all the disgusting things you have to do, from dissecting frogs to cleaning out your locker, with the 1999 Planet Dexter Grossology Calendar. Every month is devoted to a different gross topic, from dandruff to toe jam. It sells for $13, but if you send us back this coupon by Sept. 29, you might win one. We're giving away 10 in a random drawing, so cross your fingers and toes!

Hungry Heroes: Bacteria Good Guys Take A Bite Out Of Pollution Out Of Pollution

June 24, 1997|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

It's a hot, muggy afternoon in Cedar Park, Texas. Wind whips across the plains and thunder rumbles. Suddenly, a tornado half a mile wide rips through the railyard; the 260-m.p.h. winds level buildings, tear up trees and toss a 155,000-pound railroad car 40 feet through the air. The car, converted to run on recycled motor oil, lands upside down, and the ooze begins. Hundreds of gallons of oil bleed from the crumpled car oil that could contaminate Cedar Park soil and water.

Enter a very unlikely rescue squad: hordes of energized bacteria.

At any moment in any day, billions of bacteria surround us. Living, breathing, and HUNGRY, bacteria thrive in almost invisible colonies. And like any other element of life, some of them are heroes.

"We are constantly bombarded by mouthwash ads and disinfectant commercials that talk about `bad' bacteria. But there are bacterial good guys out there too." That's the word from Carl Oppenheimer. He's a Texas-based microbiologist, nationally recognized as an expert on how these little guys work. He also runs Oppenheimer Biotechnology Inc., a company whose business it is to get "good" bacteria to eat bad stuff.

Oppenheimer and other scientists have trained special strains of these "good guys" to do what comes naturally when they mix with oil disasters and other pollution: eat! "Not only do these bacteria have the potential to treat pollution, they literally remove it," Oppenheimer said. Plus, he said, the only byproducts oil-eating bacteria produce are carbon dioxide and water.

Bacterial heroes have slightly less glamorous jobs too: Some work in fast-food restaurants to unclog drains.

"Our bacteria have been trained to eat the grease in those drain lines," said Cecil Johnson, vice president of a company called Environmental Biotech. "We inject them directly into the drains, and they take care of the rest. ... They have a powerful, natural hunger when it comes to grease."

To train microscopic creatures, scientific teams search for bacteria that eat certain "foods" in nature. "After we find them, we feed them only what we want them to eat," Johnson said. "In about 14 days, the originals die off. But microbes split and multiply before they die. One becomes two. Two become four. After about two years, we have a pretty reliable strain of bacteria."

Is it safe to manipulate natural bacteria? We asked Edgar Berkey about the process. He leads the National Environmental Technology Applications Corp. That's a non-profit group that studies new ways of dealing with oil spills for the Environmental Protection Agency. So, are pollution-eating bacteria safe?

"The simple answer is absolutely yes," Berkey said. "Petroleum compounds and the bacteria that feed on them occur naturally. Take suboceanic leaks of oil. They regularly seep out in various parts of the world. If bacteria hadn't naturally evolved to take care of it, we'd have a terrible problem. So the basic process is part of nature's waste management system. All we're trying to do in the application of these microbes is accelerate that natural process."

Bacteria used in or near food must be approved as safe by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bacteria used to battle hazardous oil spills don't require that approval but the EPA keeps a list of how such bacteria are being used.

"We know there are nasty bacteria out there - bacteria that are hazardous, even deadly, to human beings," said Environmental Biotech's Johnson. But, he added, "We only work with what are called non-pathogenic bacteria - microbes that are safe for humans."​

Winging It: When It Came To Creating Film's Flying Fairies, Computer Wizards Were Left To Their Own Devices

October 21, 1997|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

In 1917, a 12-year-old girl named Elsie Wright and her 10-year-old cousin Frances Griffiths rocked England when they revealed photographs of fairies. Photographs they had taken themselves. Photographs that experts said were real!

Once word got out, hundreds of ordinary people flocked to the woods near the Wrights' home, hoping to see the magic of fairies for themselves. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes) and one of his friends, illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini, traveled to meet Elsie and Frances, hoping to unravel the mystery.

When director Charles Sturridge (the man who brought us the Emmy Award-winning TV special "Gulliver's Travels") decided to make the story of Elsie and Frances into a movie, he knew he'd have to make a little magic of his own.

"When you watch a magician, particularly Houdini, who was a miraculously good magician," Sturridge says, "you see things and you cannot imagine how they're done. Your brain says, `It's a trick.' But there is another bit of you that admits you've just seen something astonishing."

Sturridge wanted "Fairy Tale: A True Story" to appeal to both sides of human nature. To do that, he needed special-effects wizard Tim Webber. "We wanted to make the fairies totally believable as creatures," Webber says, "but much more real."

These fairies are an amazing mix of live-action actors dressed as fairies and computer animation. Webber's biggest challenge was helping the fairies take flight.

"We tried to get them flying right, different from anything you've ever seen fly before," Webber says. But there was nothing like a fairy to study and duplicate. Even the laws of gravity might affect a tiny fairy differently from any other flying creature. "The movements we tried to achieve were basically completely new."

So Webber and the rest of the computer animation team at London's Framestore digital-effects facility looked to nature for clues. "We wanted to give them a sort of darty, almost insectlike feel," he says. "So we settled on a cross between a dragonfly and a hummingbird."

After feeding details of motion from these creatures into the computer, Framestore blended the movements with human features.

Director Sturridge says: "One of the things that distinguishes this story from any other remotely connected story is that basically, it's true. We wanted to find a way of presenting fairies just as real."

A Turkey you can love

When it comes to naming man's best friend, some turkey owner's say, "Move over, Spot. It's time for a fine feathered friend."

Why turkeys? It's a matter of heart, says John Sturgeon of Atascadero, Calif. who raised the birds for 15 years. "They are not very smart,"he admits, "but they are canny and extremely loyal."

Frank Jones, a University of Arkansas poultry expert , agrees. "I think loyal is probably a good description, provided the owner got the turkey young. A chick will imprint to the owner as if it were his or her mother."

Fourteen-year-old Jennifer Clark raised her favorite turkey, "Thanksgiving", from a hatchling. On Oct. 14, the plump 24-pound hen was chosen the Arkansas State Fai'rs Junior Reserve Grand Champion. Clark went home with a trophy, a four-year college scholarship and $3,700.

Her affection for the birds is a little more practical than Sturgeon's. "I try not to get attached," she say. "I only have them about 12 weeks before they go to auction." Once auctioned, turkeys like Thanksgiving either wind up as breeding stock or high-priced eats. (Thanksgiving will breed).

But Clark admits the young chicks did bond with her. "Even as babies, they definitely recognized me, " she says. "Every morning when I went outside to feed them, they'd start running around and flapping their wings."

One of Sturgeon's birds got more excited than that. "I had a female named Irene that developed a crush on me," he says. "I would take my guitar outside to the back pasture and sing to the turkeys. Irene would tremble and quiver."Sturgeon says Irene never failed to curl up at his feet and nuzzle affectionately.​Cross species affection is possiblem says poultry expert Jones. "But I'm not sure how much would be actual behavior and how much would be human perception."

Then again, maybe Irene was drunk. “Hey, it happens,” says Sturgeon. “Every summer, when the plums get ripe, hundreds fall to the ground and ferment.” After pigging out, “the birds get drunk,” he says. They walk sideways. They stagger. They gobble erratically and, eventually, flop to the ground.”

Drunk or sober, Sturgeon says turkeys will always be his bird of choice. “When Ben Franklin said out national symbol should b the turkey, not the eagle, he was right. The turkey is, without a doubt, the noblest of birds.”

Noble if you can deal with manure, Jones says. “I doubt seriously that you’d be able to house train a turkey. But the affection isn’t unusual. Even most commercial turkey growers come to sort of like working with the birds.”

Do live turkey owners still eat the traditional holiday feast? “Sure,” Clark says. “I was raised to see livestock as livestock.” Even Sturgeon admits the habitually hateful turkeys in his flock wind up backed and broiled. But one thing is clear. Turkeys are easy to love – inside our stomachs and out.

Cripes, Crichton, What A Find! ​ `The Lost World' Writer Stumbled Upon Dino Career

May 20, 1997|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

In 1989, as he looked forward to the birth of daughter Taylor, writer Michael Crichton was struck with the urge to buy dinosaur stuffed animals. The toys helped him understand people's love for prehistoric beasts. So he decided to write a dinosaur story and out came "Jurassic Park," which was later made into a monster hit movie. Eight years later, "The Lost World," the sequel to Jurassic Park, is about to open in theaters. Join us as we get to know the man who brought dinosaurs to life.

KidNews: Is it true you started writing when you were in the 3rd grade?

MC: I did begin in the 3rd grade, with a long script for a puppet show.

KidNews: What subjects did you write about as a kid?

MC: I wrote adventure stories hunting sharks and lost cities.

KidNews: Were your stories always as good as they are now?

MC: They were pretty bad, trust me. I can't even read them now. But I kept trying. Eventually I got better.

KidNews: Did you fantasize about dinosaurs in elementary school?

MC: I liked dinosaurs, but no more than the average kid.

KidNews: What surprised you as you researched "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World"?

MC: I postulated (that means came up with a theory) a very large Velociraptor. After the book was published, one was found!

KidNews: Why did you include kid characters in "Jurassic Park"?

MC: I wanted to show that the makers of the park were indifferent to safety. Having kids at risk was the easiest way to show it.

KidNews: Were any of the characters in "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" Michael Crichton in disguise?

MC: I like Malcolm best. Like him, I tend to be critical of technology.

KidNews: Did you think kids would read "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World"?

MC: The fact that young people started reading the books was unexpected. I didn't think kids would be interested.

KidNews: What ideas would you like kids to think about as they finish reading or watching "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World"?

MC: Science is exciting. Knowledge is power. Wisdom is needed to wield power.

MC: Learn everything you can. Never assume you won't need certain information. The world is going to be radically different in 10 years. When I was in elementary school, there was no TV, no jet airplanes, no personal computers. All that came later. So, don't be sosure about what you should and shouldn't have to learn.

FOUND WORLD

The "Lost World" creatures on screen are awesome but they won't be the only dinos around town: The Field Museum exhibit "Dinosaur Families" opens Saturday. The center of attention promises to be a dinosaur nest with actual fossil eggs and baby dino skeletons, along with eight moving, life-size robotic dinos. For costs and other info, call the Field Museum at 312-922-9410. Bring in your ticket stubs from "The Lost World" and you'll get half off the admission price.

When Steven Spielberg decided to make the nurturing side of dinosaur families a key theme in "The Lost World," it was up to special-effects wizards Stan Winston and Dennis Muren to make it work. They had to find a way to hatch a baby Tyrannosaurus rex, without laying an egg. (You have to watch the flick to see the creature for yourself, but the pic above shows Mama rushing to her baby.)​"Steven wanted to use the baby to show T rex was more than a killing machine - to show it was a protective parent, as well," Winston says. "The question was, how were we going to help convey that feeling? How were we going to make this baby look like it was crying and breathing?"

Making the 4-foot-long animatronic hatchling move without wires or rods was the key. "The puppet had to receive signals clearly, so it could respond to the puppeteers without wires. And it had to respond smoothly at 45 different points of motion," Winston says.

That meant individual controls would activate movement at 45 spots on the hatchling's robotic body. Winston and his team created new microwave radios and motors to make that possible - motors so strong and yet so small they could be hidden within the body of the baby T rex and still be fully functional.

"It was a huge, breakthrough in what we do," Winston says. "We're very proud of that baby."

But even the best of new robotic technology can't make all of Spielberg's dinosaur dreams come true. That's where the Industrial Light and Magic's computer graphics come in.

"Our work starts where Stan's leaves off," Muren says. "We have to ask how the legs move, how it jumps."

How did Muren and his team imagine the baby T rex?

"When we looked at the baby T rex designs, we could see it was youthful," Muren says. "It could walk and run, but it would be clumsy. And it would look at the world through primitive eyes. It might cock its head when it saw something, trying to figure it out."

Muren fed the details into computers and programmed them to simulate bigger movements, like running, leaping or ripping flesh from a meaty bone.

"Once Dennis works his magic," Winston says, "the baby T rex has full life. That's when the two worlds of anima-tronics and computer-generated animation come together."​

Who's Laughing Now? ​ `South Park' Draws An Unintended Audience: Kids

January 27, 1998|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

Even before MTV announced the death of "Beavis & Butt-head" (translation: no more new episodes), cable competitor Comedy Central had a show that could kick "B&B" butt, according to some animation fans. Comedy Central had "South Park."

Four fictional 3rd graders - Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan - from the not-so-fictional South Park, Colo., exploded onto TV screens last August. It quickly became a megahit. (A whopping 4.5 million people watched the "South Park" Christmas special last December.) But the people behind "South Park" want you to know something: It's a cartoon, and it's hot - but it wasn't created for you.

"It's a monster hit for us," said Tony Fox, a senior V.P. at Comedy Central. "But we consider this an adult show, written for adults."

No doubt. After all, these kids have faced down things like flammable flatulence. They have foul mouths. And they do some rude stunts (like, a baby loves to do a mean impression of David Caruso's career- he takes a huge dive). The comedy is razor-sharp - and plenty of people get picked on.

Comedy Central has aggressively marketed the show as an adults-only program. They gave it an MA-TV (mature audience) rating. They air it only after 10 p.m. each Wednesday night - a school night -- regardless of continental time zones. And they sell "South Park" merchandise only in adult -oriented stores and on the Internet - never in toy stores.Even so, kids are finding their way to "South Park."

"I like the way they're so crazy they're funny," said Ana S., 10, of Illinois. Her mom doesn't watch the show, but doesn't mind that Ana and her brother and sisters do. "My mom doesn't believe in censorship."

Chris G. of Virginia, 11, said his dad thinks the show is "hilarious."

"Maybe it is a grownup show," Chris said. "But it still appeals to kids. I watch it all the time, and so do some of my friends. But then again, I have an offbeat sense of humor - that's what my 5th-grade teacher says."

Eight-year-old Vanessa H. of Colorado said: "I guess it isn't written for kids, but it doesn't matter. It still makes me laugh, especially when Kyle plays `kick the baby' with his little brother Ike." She also loves the "South Park" tradition of killing parka-clad Kenny every week, only to have him re-emerge in the next episode.

Said 14-year-old Casey J. of Montana: " `South Park' is a little too advanced for some kids to understand, but then again, my parents probably wouldn't like it. They'd probably think it didn't reflect the real world. But from a kid's point of view, it does."

So some kids are watching the show behind their parents' back. Others watch it alone because their parents are OK with it, but find it too disgusting to sit through themselves. Then there are parents like Tracy M.'s. Tracy, 13, of New York told us: "My mom likes it. She watches it with me." (By the way, Tracy said the show doesn't influence how she acts - at school. "It's not going to make me talk like that at school, because I know not to." As for what happens outside of school, when parents aren't around? "Parents would be very surprised if they found out how their kids really talked.")----------Do you watch "South Park"?Are your parents OK with it? Let us know!

HOWDY-HO!

Got a hankering for Mr. Hankey? Then you'll be glad to know a Mr. Hankey chocolate bar might be around the corner. "On my desk right now is a sketch of a Mr. Hankey choco-bar," Comedy Central president Doug Herzog tells Entertainment Weekly. "It's the nuttiest bar around! ... Whether or not we have the guts to go ahead with it remains to be seen. "​

A Lesson In LunacyColorado School Shares Name And Fame With `South Park'​

May 26, 1998|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

For years, going to a school with the name of South Park didn't mean much more than homework and hot lunch to the students. Then came Kenny, Kyle, Cartman and Stan.

Now, because of "South Park," Comedy Central's animated series for grownups, going to a South Park school definitely gets attention - for better or worse. The students sometimes find themselves knee-deep in cartoon controversy.

We tried to ask kids at South Park Elementary Schools in Deerfield, Ill., and Fairplay, Colo., how they felt about sharing their school name with cartoon crazies. But the principals didn't think that was a very good idea. The show is for adults, they said, and they didn't want their students to comment for our story.

Then there's South Park High School, which is right across the way from South Park Elementary in Fairplay. (Fairplay is in South Park Valley, and the town used to be called South Park, but that got changed for reasons we won't even go into. But everyone calls it South Park, so we will too.) Kids at the high school were able to talk to us. As journalism teacher Wendy Herrin put it, "It's good to give kids a chance to speak their mind."

This is what kids said:

"Our star quarterback was named Stan last year, just like the Stan on the show," said Brian H., 16. "And Trey Parker, one of the show's writers, grew up near here, in Connifer. But we don't really talk like the kids on the show."

Said Kay S., 14: "We wouldn't dare. And that's why I don't really like the show. They exaggerate so much. I mean, come on, we don't have 3rd graders who cuss."

Scott H., 17, almost agreed. "True, nobody cusses that much. But I think the show is pretty cool. It's a lot like where we live. And it doesn't bother me, because the town needs something to talk about."

And talk they do. "There are pretty mixed feelings about the show around here," said South Park Chamber of Commerce volunteer Pat Pocius. "But love it or hate it, everyone has something to say."

That includes school bus driver Mary Jo Eggloff, who's said to be the inspiration for the "South Park" bus driver. "I think that kind of disrespect isn't good," she said. "It doesn't need to be glorified. And if any of my kids talked that way, they'd probably end up getting thrown off the bus."

Living in South Park means telephone snickers for teacher Herrin: "It's been strange trying to order supplies out of town. Every time I call to try and get something, they say, `South Park? Really?' They think I'm pulling a prank."

But the show is worth it, Brian H. said. "The show appeals to our generation because it's not censored like all the other shows. There are no barriers. And when I went to a student government conference in Washington, D.C., and told people I was from South Park, they knew right where it was."

"Yeah, suddenly being from South Park is cool," Scott H. said. "That's not too bad considering most of us spend our free time out in the pastures gathering cows."​

Godzilla In Coming

May 05, 1998|By - Kelly Milner Halls, Special to the Tribune

The big, bad monster comes roaring into movie theaters May 20. And we're making him our KidNews cover guy on May 19. (No, you won't actually see him, cuz he's being kept under wraps. But we'll provide a sneak peek.) In the meantime, here are some tidbits to get you in the mood.

At the annual Toy Fair in New York, "Godzilla was everywhere," says Edward Summer, publisher of the Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette (find it at www.dinosaur.org/ godzilla.htm).

That means big business is paying big bucks for the right to use Godzilla's name or likeness on their products.But could this flood of Godzilla goodies backfire and hurt the movie's popularity? "Not likely, " says Lakshman Krishnamurthi. He is the marketing chair at the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston. "America has come to expect this kind of blitz. If it didn't happen, the public would probably think the studio was a little stupid."

According to Krishnamurthi, "The companies marketing Godzilla have to take advantage of public awareness. It's like buying a ticket on an airplane. The plane takes off, whether you're in the seat or not."

Dozens of companies - including Trendmaster, Tyco, Hasbro Koosh and CAP - have Godzilla tricks up their sleeves, but nobody's talking. Summer is willing to let you in on one secret, though:

"The new Godzilla doesn't look anything like the old Godzilla," he says, "so you're bound to be surprised."Hungry for more Godzilla? We got gobs.

- An animated "Godzilla" TV series is in the works. The weekly cartoon, by Fox Kids Network, will feature a kinder Godzilla - a defender of humanity who wards off aliens, monsters and evil scientists.

- Want to know tons about Godzilla? Random House has you covered. "The Official Godzilla Compendium" by J.D. Lees and Marc Cerasini ($16) is bulging with enough photos and factoids to make your head spin. Even "Godzilla" special effects wizard Volker Engel has a copy.

- If you'd like to experience the thunder without leaving home, dial in these top-notch Godzilla Web sites:

It's August in North America, so chances are you're hot, hot, hot. You're probably even dreaming of back-to-school breezes that blow in with the fall. But what would you do if the weather never ever chilled?

Mark Plotkin has been there. He's an ethnobotanist, a scientist who studies how people use plants. His studies have taken him to the Amazon rain forest of Suriname, where summer never really ends. Plotkin has studied the people who live there, the Tirio Indians, for 20 years. He can tell you what life is like for the Tirio kids who live there.

"All year long, they rise with the sun to the sound of tribal hunting dogs barking," Plotkin says. "The kids wake at dawn so they can go to school, hunt or work their gardens before it gets too hot."

How hot is too hot? According to America Online's Virtual Planet, the average temperature in Suriname is 81 degrees. "Let's just say the heat can be oppressive," Plotkin says.

To beat the blazing effects of the sun, the Tirio use a little local magic. If sunburn strikes, tropical vinegar eases the sting. Aromatic leaves and saps drive off most biting bugs. And when all else fails, the people hit the waves.

"Indians will bathe in the river three times a day, just to cool off," Plotkin says.

Is it dangerous to splash and dash with exotic tropical fish? "There are plenty of piranhas and electric eels," Plotkin says. "But they don't bother you. Stingrays are much more worrisome. The Tirio shuffle their feet to scare them off."When it's too hot even to swim, the villagers move their kids and their pets inside thatch huts, climb into suspended, woven hammocks and doze until the sun moves on. "They'll even sleep under wet towels to beat the heat," Plotkin says.

Still, Plotkin says, Tirio kids say living in the Suriname rain forest is cool, even when it's hot. "It's all they really know," he says. "It's the way it's always been."

IT'S NOT EXACTLY RAINING CATS AND DOGS

Ever wondered how Fido would fit in on the Amazon?

"He'd be a very different dog," says ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin, who has visited rain forest Indians for decades.

"They don't really keep cats," Plotkin says of the rain forest's Tirio Indians, "but they do keep dogs. In fact, they depend on their dogs for survival, for hunting."

But according to Plotkin, the dogs aren't really pets. They are hunting companions, kept lean and mean and hungry to sniff out their kill.

"They don't come in the house," Plotkin says. "And they don't even get individual names."

So do rain forest kids go without critter cuddles? "Not at all," Plotkin says. If during a hunting expedition, a mother animal is accidentally killed for meat, the Tirio will raise her young. "So Amazon kids often have baby macaws, baby peccaries and baby spider monkeys as pets."​What do kids feed their pets in the Amazon? "Annoying ethnobotanists," Plotkin says. "Or table scraps if no scientists are in town."----------Want to know more? Check out Mark Plotkin's Web page at ethnobotany.org. And watch for his kickin' documentary film "Amazon" to hit an IMAX theater near you.​

Elephants And Toilets? Runwaway Cars And Mickey's Gloves? ​You Must Be Dreaming!

April 28, 1998|By Kelly Milner Halls. Special to the Tribune

It was a quarter to 10 when 9-year-old Jessica finally hit the sheets. And what a day it had been. She didn't get her homework finished. She forgot to take out the garbage. And her best friend was mad because calling had slipped Jessica's mind. Jessica tossed and turned before she finally started to dream... about an elephant?

Makes sense, says California-based dream expert Elizabeth Strahan. "Everything you see in your dreams represents a part of who you are." So if Jessica wants to understand the elephant, she should ask herself some questions.

"She should think of five adjectives for the elephant," Strahan says. If Jessica thinks "big," "dumb," "gray," "slow" and "forgetful" when she describes her Dumbo in the dark, "maybe she's fighting with her slow, forgetful side," Strahan says. "Maybe she's in conflict with herself."

Laurel Clark at the School of Metaphysics in Missouri couldn't agree more.

"We've been researching dreams for 25 years, and we've discovered every dream tells us something about our own attitudes," she says.

If the therapists believe that dreams help people weave together their past and their present, what about their future? Can dreams foretell things yet to come? Perhaps, according to Michael Maione, historian at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., where President Lincoln was shot.

"Lincoln had dreams that foreshadowed his own death," Maione says. "He told his Cabinet about one the day he was shot, and it was recorded by Gideon Welles, his secretary of the Navy. He reportedly told his long-time friend Ward Hill Lamon about a second, more detailed dream of people weeping because the president had been shot."

Do all experts agree that dreams are windows to the dreamer's soul? "I think most of us believe that some dreams can have a true psychological meaning," says Dr. Russell Rosenberg. He's the director of the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and Technology. "But that's probably not the only reason we dream. Some dreams are purely nonsensical. Those dreams may be our physiological way of discarding information gathered during the day that is unwanted or not needed - sort of like taking out the trash."

Even so, expert Strahan believes, "we should all explore our dreams - just to see what the exploration wakes up inside us."

SHE KNOWS HER STUFF FROM A TO ZZZZZZZZZZ

Dream expert Elizabeth Strahan answered our pressing questions:

KidNews: Why do people dream?

E.S.: We don't know exactly why, but we know that all people dream. It's built into our hard drives.

KidNews: Do most people dream in color?

E.S.: Life is in color, so yes, we normally dream in color too.

KidNews: Do animals dream?

E.S.: We don't know if animals dream or not. They seem to experience rapid eye movement as we do when we dream.

KidNews: Do boys and girls dream differently?

E.S.: They dream differently because their interests tend to be different.

KidNews: Can you control your dreams?

E.S.: People tend to want to control their dreams. But I think we shouldn't even try. We should listen to our dreams.

KidNews: How common are recurrent dreams?

E.S.: They are relatively common with people who aren't paying attention to what they feel. Recurrent dreams say there is a problem you're not listening to.

KidNews: Why do we sometimes wake up tired after we dream?

E.S.: Because the dream comes from your physical body. It responds to dreams in the same way it relates to everyday experiences. If you have a pleasant dream, you wake up refreshed. If you have a dream where you worked out a problem, you might feel relieved.

For 25 years, experts at the School of Metaphysics, head-quartered in Windyville, Mo., have been studying what people dream and why. Every spring, they invite sleepy citizens to call their dream hot lines. "It's our way of sharing what we've learned," says school spokeswoman Laurel Clark. During this year's dream week (it's over now), KidNews asked a few kids to call and reveal their weirdest dreams. This is what interpreter Sharka Glet said:

Kelly M., 8, dreamed that while he waited in the car for his parents to buy a loaf of bread, it suddenly drove away without them. All he could see was a pair of Mickey Mouse gloves on the steering wheel, driving the car.

Interpretation: The car represents Kelly's physical body. Because it drove away with no one in the driver's seat, he's probably afraid he can't control his body. He needs more purpose, more physical activity to help him gain confidence.

Ann H., 10, dreamed that her sister's leg was stuck in the toilet. Her sister tried to flush. Ann stopped her. She was afraid that with one swish of that handle, her sister would be lost forever.​Interpretation: For Ann, the toilet represents her desire to release private thoughts. Her sister represents Ann's fears. She probably needs to open up, but she's afraid that if she does, she'll lose something important.

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